acoso sexual

The plaintiff sued the defendant in Civil Labor Court for damages suffered because of sexual harassment in the workplace. The plaintiff was an employee of the defendant for 13 years, always received good performance reviews, and was promoted. One of the company’s directors continuously harassed her in the workplace for over two years even though the plaintiff rejected his propositions. Over the course of those two years, the director sent several inappropriate text messages and emails to the plaintiff, to which she never responded.

This law amends Paraguay’s Criminal Code and establishes (among other things) penalties for (i) sexual harassment, article 133; (ii) domestic violence, article 229; (iii) sexual coercion, including sexual abuse without intercourse, article 128; (iv) human trafficking, article 129; (v) sexual abuse of defenseless victims, article 130; and (vi) sexual abuse of persons held in custody, children under 14, and/or persons under guardianship –articles 130, 131, 135, 136, 137 and 230.

The defendant, a public servant from a local prosecutor office in Colombia, was charged with a sexual harassment offense and acquitted. It was argued that the defendant met the plaintiff in a public park to discuss the subpoena of a parallel judicial proceeding in which the plaintiff was involved. Instead, he offered her money in exchange for sex. The plaintiff refused. The Supreme Court of Justice upheld the acquittal, finding that the prosecutor incorrectly qualified the defendant’s conduct as sexual harassment.